Pfizer beats Street 2Q forecasts despite big drop in profit

Selling, informational, and administrative (SI&A) expenses, research and development (R&D) expenses, and cost of sales margins are projected to come in at $13.7-14.7 billion, $7.4-7.8 billion, and 21-22%, respectively for the year.

FILE – In this Monday, Nov. 23, 2015, file photo, people walk past Pfizer World Headquarters in NY.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) now has mean rating of 2.2 while 10 analyst have recommended the shares as “BUY”, 4 commented as “OUTPERFORM” and 8 commented as “HOLD”. “There are a limited number of therapies available and patients need additional treatment options” said Michael Corbo, PhD, Chief Development Officer, Inflammation & Immunology, Pfizer, Inc.

In April, Pfizer terminated a $160 billion deal to acquire Irish drugmaker Allergan Plc AGN.N after the U.S. Treasury Department issued new rules restricting tax inversion transactions aimed at slashing taxes. Its portfolio includes medicines, vaccines and medical devices, as well as consumer healthcare products.

“Our updated thinking is now that the company is NOT likely to split itself up”, Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Dr. Timothy Anderson wrote to investors Tuesday.

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) reported that its second-quarter adjusted net income increased 11 percent year-over-year to $3.90 billion. Sales of older medicines, most of which have expired patents but still sell well in other countries, jumped 16 percent to $6.04 billion.

The company said that it had $0.64 in earnings per share (EPS) on $13.15 billion in revenue. The company posted upbeat results for the quarter, with both topline and bottom-line numbers coming in ahead of the Street’s estimates.

Pfizer earned 64 cents per share, excluding special items, beating the average analyst estimate by 2 cents.

Sales of newer, patent-protected medicines rose 7 percent to $7.11 billion, while sales of older medicines jumped 16 percent to $6.04 billion, mostly due to Pfizer’s purchase of sterile injectable drugmaker Hospira a year ago. Pfizer has found ways to offset headwinds from generic competition for some of its key drugs, including blockbuster arthritis drug Celebrex, by launching new products like Eliquis, Xalkori and Xeljanz.

Pfizer affirmed its prior financial forecasts for 2016. The shots sold $1.26bn, compared with estimates of $1.58bn, after sales in the USA leveled following what Pfizer said was pent-up demand. The shares closed down -1.77 points or -2.18% at $79.47 with 19.47 million shares getting traded. Having a look at the historical EPS report, the company attained $2.2 EPS for the previous year.